Hooked On Romance

I was determined to see the sights while in DC, and I succeeded in seeing many of them. The memorials, monument, and architecture...it's a powerful city that has been romanticized to a certain degree I think. Some people visit the memorials and historical sites without putting a lot of thought into what sacrifices were made in the past. I'll admit, I started my journey out that way. Very quickly I found myself surrounded by things and people that had me reflecting on my life, my self, and my goals.

It's the Korean memorial that lingers in my heart more than any of the others. I thought for awhile that it was because my grandfather fought in the Korean War, and maybe that was part of it. It goes deeper than that for me, though. I went to this memorial twice. The second time after hearing Candace Havens speak about perseverance (see part of her talk here). She was talking about writing, and she talked about her two closest friends, but when I went back to the Korean memorial a few days later...

As the wall says, Freedom is Not Free. It struck me, that while the men and women in war are fighting primarily for our freedom to live, they are also fighting for us to have emotional freedom, for us to live at peace with ourselves as much as with each other. Looking at the statues of the men, looking into their eyes, it didn't feel as if I was looking into stone. I could feel their pain. I could imagine how their minds would stray back to the families they had left had home. How thoughts of their wives, children, siblings, parents, and grandparents would drive them on when they wanted nothing more than to go home. More, I could see and feel their spirit. The part of each one of them that lived deep inside them that gave them the strength to face the hardships, the solitude that likely came with being away from home.

It occurs to me now as I think back on my visit to this memorial and the others and I think about Candy's speech, we all face feelings, thoughts, and fears similar to those that these soldiers dealt with. Granted, their fears are on a bigger scale than most of ours, but we all have dark places in our minds and hearts. We have fears, doubts, and questions that nag at us. We all wonder if we're making the right decisions. If we're taking the right actions. If there is a better solution to a problem than the one we're contemplating or acting out.

I didn't attend as many workshops this year as I wanted, and I will be listening to the cds when they come in, but I walked away from this conference with a better understanding of myself and what I want in this career. I don't have the answers yet on how to make sure my new goals come to fruition, as I'm still sorting through all the thoughts in my head, but I'm closer than I was before heading to DC.

If you're interested in more pictures from my DC trip, including some of the sites, more from the memorials, as well as pictures from the conference, check out my personal blog from yesterday at www.nikkiduncan.com/blog.

I'm terribly exhausted. The trip to DC was fast and easy. The trip back, not so. We sat on the tarmac for 2 hours before we took off on a 3 hour flight back and with a crying baby in the row behind me, I had a tough time concentrating...but that's not what I want to talk about.

What I want to tell you is what an awesome time I had at Nationals! I'll recap the details next Monday when I am fully rested. I'm delighted to say that DC had a better vibe than San Francisco last year. As far as checking into the room and the on site restaurants--a total disappointment! I believe the hotel wasn't ready, or fully staffed, to handle a few thousand romance authors taking over for a week. I'm kinda seeing a trend with the past four conference hotels I've attended...however, the company I held made a big difference in my experience and I can only give a shot out to my online friends from Romance Divas.

From my trip to the Veteran WWII memorial to riding in a limo with my agency sisters to industry parties...there's plenty of dirt to give up...but as I mentioned, I'll be breaking all that down next Monday. For now, I will leave a bit of info regarding the erotic market for those who write in this genre. It's acquired from a compilation made by Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency, during the Passionate Ink party...Feel free to pass this link :)

Avon Red -- Should be Kensington Brava heat level

Bantam Dell -- No erotica

Berkley Heat -- Cindy Hwang would like to see more threesomes and more-somes, M/M, menages

NAL -- Paranormals with dark tones (Angela Knight flavor). Heat level should be Eclipse sensual like Lacy Alexander

Dorchester -- No erotic, but like hot romance like SJ Day, Jade Lee and wants to see fantasy

Grand Central -- Not sure about erotic

HQN -- Sexy title like Victoria Dahl. Sassy, sexual fearless. No anal, threesomes, or the female "c" word

Spice -- 12 books a year. Looking for paranormals with 100K

Kensington Aphrodisia -- 2 books a month. Single title anthology. Should be beyond Shifters and vamps. Concepts and series. The hotter the better and what can't be found in traditional romance

Kensington Brava -- Sensual. 3 titles a month: contemporary, historical and paranormal with one mass market reprint. Looking for single title author anthology. like Sylvia Day, Diane Whiteside, and Allison Kent

Pocket -- Not actively acquiring erotica. Trade market has cooled down. Really sexy, envelope pushing. Hetero characters. No threesomes, etc. More in line with Gena Showalter, Shayla Black, and Kresley Cole. Also looking for sweet contemporaries and Women's Fiction

St. Martin's Press -- Great fresh voices in all genres. No Sherilyn Kenyon (already have one). No erotic line because they have Lora Leigh, Opal Carew. M/M and single author anthology OK. Anything not illegal is okay.

Black Lace -- Officially closed.